Lockheed avoids the worst of layoffs

Lockheed Martin Corp. unleashed another downsizing last week aimed at eliminating 4,000 jobs nationwide – a move that appears to hit nearly every sector of the company except its Missiles and Fire Control unit in Orlando.

Half of the layoffs will come from plants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona being shuttered. The other half come from across-the-board work force reductions in Information Systems & Global Systems, Space Systems and Mission Systems & Training (which includes the simulation and training unit in Orlando).

While the local simulation operation only took a minor hit – 20 pink slips were issued – Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control Orlando came away unscathed this time around. The company employs more than 4,400 at its Sand Lake Road facilities in south Orlando.

And the only impact on the entire Texas-based Missiles & Fire Control business was the shutdown of a small weapons-guidance unit near El Paso. Less than a dozen jobs were eliminated; the workers are applying for openings elsewhere in the company, officials said.

Lockheed cited the ongoing effort to cut costs and operate more efficiently amid the decline in military spending.

"These corporate-wide actions are occurring in numerous locations around the country and follow a strategic review of Lockheed's current facility capacity and future workload projections," the company said in a prepared statement.

The latest round of cutbacks follows more than four years of companywide downsizing by Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed that has eliminated about 30,000 jobs through involuntary layoffs, voluntary retirements and attrition.

Lockheed's Orlando missiles operation has not been immune to the cuts – more than 90 jobs have been eliminated by the operation since 2008.

But one look at the huge lineup of contracts Lockheed Missiles has received this year would suggest why it has been able to weather the latest storm undamaged, at least for now.

Foreign deals are lucrative

Overall, the Orlando missiles group has booked contracts worth at least $840 million since February, according to Defense Department and company figures.

Foreign arms deals have been especially lucrative, accounting for nearly half of the 2013 deals; that includes $250 million last month to build Hellfire missiles for Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies; and $223 million in August to make advanced fighter-jet weapons-targeting systems for South Korea; and $51 million in September to produce upgraded weapons-targeting radar systems for South Korea.

Meanwhile, the missiles group also has diversified its military portfolio to produce anti-ship missiles for the Navy ($71 million contract in March) and fire-control systems for the Cobra helicopter fleet ($34 million in August).

Lockheed's simulation and training unit has also landed some lucrative foreign arms deals this year, including a $253 million contract to produce flight training systems for Saudi Arabia. In April, the unit won a $146 million deal to provide war-game training for allied and U.S. commanders.

The high-tech training unit has lost two key bids, however, for lucrative contracts to build a combat simulation center for the Air Force ($490 million) and training systems for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship ($300 million).

Tech notes

•Orlando-based L-3 Coleman Aerospace snagged a contract potentially worth more than $73 million to produce medium-range ballistic missile target and provide technical support, maintenance and other services to the launch range. The work will be performed in Cape Canaveral. The deal was awarded by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, Ala. Terms call for the work to be completed by September 2018.

•Boeing Co. received a $99 million increase to its existing contract to integrate maintenance training devices and other training systems into production of the Navy's P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime aircraft. One-fourth of the work will be performed in Orlando; the remainder will be done in St. Louis, Whidbey Island, Wash., Huntington Beach, Calif., and Jacksonville. Work is to be completed by June 2016.